School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK; School of Physics and Astronomy, Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
Neuroimage. 2022 May 1;251:118990. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.118990. Epub 2022 Feb 11.
Entrainment of brain oscillations can be achieved using rhythmic non-invasive brain stimulation, and stimulation of the motor cortex at a frequency associated with sensorimotor inhibition can impair motor responses. Despite the potential for therapeutic application, these techniques do not lend themselves to use outside of a clinical setting. Here, the aim was to investigate whether rhythmic median nerve stimulation (MNS) could be used to entrain oscillations related to sensorimotor inhibition. MEG data were recorded from 20 participants during 400 trials, where for each trial 10 pulses of MNS were delivered either rhythmically or arrhythmically at 12 or 20 Hz. Our results demonstrate a frequency specific increase in relative amplitude in the contralateral somatosensory cortex during rhythmic but not arrhythmic stimulation. This was coupled with an increase in inter-trial phase coherence at the same frequency, suggesting that the oscillations synchronised with the pulses of MNS. The results show that 12 and 20 Hz rhythmic peripheral nerve stimulation can produce entrainment. Rhythmic MNS resulted in synchronous firing of neuronal populations within the contralateral somatosensory cortex meaning these neurons were engaged in processing of the afferent input. Therefore, MNS could prove therapeutically useful in disorders associated with hyperexcitability within the sensorimotor cortices.
脑振荡的同步可以通过有节奏的无创性脑刺激来实现，刺激运动皮层的频率与感觉运动抑制相关可以损害运动反应。尽管有治疗应用的潜力，但这些技术并不适合在临床环境之外使用。在这里，我们的目的是研究节律性正中神经刺激（MNS）是否可以用于同步与感觉运动抑制相关的振荡。在 400 次试验中，我们从 20 名参与者记录了 MEG 数据，其中对于每次试验，以 12 或 20 Hz 的频率有节奏或无节奏地传递 10 个 MNS 脉冲。我们的结果表明，在有节奏的刺激下，但在无节奏的刺激下，对侧体感皮层中的相对振幅呈频率特异性增加。这与相同频率的试验间相位相干性增加相关，表明振荡与 MNS 的脉冲同步。结果表明，12 和 20 Hz 的节律性周围神经刺激可以产生同步。节律性 MNS 导致对侧体感皮层内神经元群体的同步放电，这意味着这些神经元参与了传入输入的处理。因此，MNS 在与感觉运动皮层过度兴奋相关的障碍中可能具有治疗作用。
